Education · 1 of 5

The path

Six to seven years, and the master's degree is not optional.

1. 1

   High school diploma

   Grade 12

   Biology, psychology and English. Volunteer somewhere with children or older adults so you know what you are signing up for.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Usually in communication sciences and disorders. If you major in something else you can still get in, but you will owe a year of prerequisite courses first.

3. 3

   Master's degree from an accredited program

   2 years

   Two years, with about 400 supervised clinical hours built in. It must be accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology or you cannot be certified.

4. 4

   Pass the national exam

   Final year

   The Praxis test in speech-language pathology, taken near the end of the master's degree.

5. 5

   Clinical fellowship, then license

   9 to 12 months

   About nine months of paid, supervised full time work. Finish it and you can hold the CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology) and your state license.